Rob the Badger

DP Fox wouldn't allow the Junior team to play at the Van. So that would force them to play at the Deltaplex, and not too many fans are going to show up for a juniors team at the old barn. They'd be lucky to draw 500 fans a night, if that. A juniors team would be better off trying in a different venue.

Right now I am listening to "The Bob and Tom" show. Hello, this is Mr. Obvious speaking....

Troll for Trout: Rancho Relaxo.

Tonic - Lemon Parade

I've finished "insomnia" and "Hearts in Atlantis"... So now I am re-reading "Salem's Lot". It's easily been a decade since I read it last.

This looks fantastic. I absolutely love this! It's a pipe dream, but a great one.

I'm not so concerned about stick curvature either. What bothers me more are the goalies who use illegal oversized equipment (*cough cough Garth Snow cough cough*)

Howard still needs more time to develope in Grand Rapids. He may play a few games in Detroit this season depending on how Hasek handles the work load, and to cover for any injuries. But he is not ready to make the next step. He might not even be ready the following season, but he'll get there. Forwards and D-men can be thrown into the fire sooner because they have partners on the ice who can help them out in tough spots. The goalie is in a totally different position. Let him cut his teeth in GR and progress naturally. The last thing he needs is to be sent up too early, have his confidence shaken (Broken) and end up taking steps backwards rather than forwards. Look at Miller, Emery, and Nitti; they all spent a while down in the AHL. They seasoned there and then made their way to the NHL with verying degrees of success. Give Howard some time and he'll come along too.

Muddy Waters, BB King, Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, John Lee Hooker, and K W Sheppard shuffled on the ipod.

So basically, in other words... you claim to know someone who knows someone who 'blah blah blah' and now he can do no wrong in your eyes and your panties are all in a bunch because he's being flamed on an internet message board. What you're failing to realize is that people are what they do. If someone hits their wife, then they're a wife beater. It doesn't matter if he does it daily or just on rare occasion. If someone uses drugs, then they are a drug user... whether it's only once in a while or if it's a daily habit. You are judged by your actions. Saying McClubber is a solid guy and a man of character doesn't hold up in the light of the evidence that he was out on the ice swinging his paddle trying to injure rival players. Hopefully, someday you will wake up and be able to take off your rose colored glasses and realize that just because someone signed your scrapbook and had their picture taken with you doesn't mean that they're a good person. Hero worship is not a good thing.

So in your opinion, it's bad for other people to be biased against your player, but it's perfectly okay for you to be biased toward him because of second hand information you've gotten. Yeah, okay. That makes a lot of sense.

Sounds like a good start. Brett Hull for commish? I'm sure the media would love that. Sound bytes galore for them, and a sure fire HHOF'er running the show. I'd love to see the teams play every team again. Especially now that we have so many young super stars in the making. A few years ago playing Washington or the Penguins was a yawner, now with the youngsters on those teams, we look forward to those match ups. Keep them coming.

Actually, I'm listening to the audio book, Wolves of the Calla by Steven King on my Ipod. I've got Concrete Blond's "Bloodletting" cued up on Itunes once I get back on my laptop.

It was made official yesterday from what I understand. He's the man that the Wings selected. So he'll be behind the bench with Jimmy P. He's won the Calder cup twice. Once as a player and once as an Asst. Coach. It looks like the Wings/Griffins are stocking the cupboard with a lot of decent/gritty players. Hopefully this years team can make some noise in the post season and avoid just barely squeaking into the post season like they did last year.

70 might be a bit high, but I wouldn't be surprised if he hit 60. The stat that will really tell the tale is his +/-. Look at the entire Chicago team and their +/- from last season. Lang will fit right in.

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. It reminds me of every play off run they've ever had. A big flop.

Willie was at the AHL All Star Game when it was hosted in Grand Rapids. I had been doing some work for the Assc Press and Sportzdomain and got a chance to speak with him. He's a great man with a lot of fantastic stories. He was kind enough to sign a stick for me (Which is proudly displayed in my office). I'm going to look up this book and give it a read. Thanks for the heads up.

The comparison between Yashin and Feds are fair. They do have a few things in common. They both have sat out when they've had contract and money issues. IE. GREED. They both are regular season scoring threats. But Feds comes to play in the play offs. He was a major contributor to Detroit's winning their championships. The same can't be said for Yashin. He has a history of disappearing during the play offs. I look back at his days in Ottawa and pity the team that would sign this locker room cancer. Please... please... for the love of all that is good and holy, don't sign Yashin!

Any rumors on who the new bench boss is going to be?

Booter is a great guy and has been a fan favorite in Grand Rapids for years. He's had good offensive stats and has scored some big goals. He's most likely a career AHL player who will have a hard time breaking the Isle's roster. Still, the Griffins will miss him.

There was a good reason the 'boogie man' was so popular when he played for the Houston Aero's. He skates like he's wearing cowboy boots. If the Wings are going to sign a tough guy, I'd rather have it be someone who can actually contribute more to the team than just racking up PIMs. There are guys out there like Chris Neil for instance, who can skate, score on occasion, play sound defensively AND drop the gloves. Boogie is a one dimensional player that gets skated around like a pylon. The Wings need some size and toughness, but Booger isn't the answer.

Howard had decent stats in GR for the last couple of years. Considering how depleted the GR defense has been the last couple of years, that is a pretty good sign that he's developing well. He might be ready to fill in as the Wings back up net minder.

That was awesome. No sax before a game... that's just great.

I was going to post this same article when i stumbled upon it today. I love how the hockey world kept saying that the wings are doomed without Stevie and Shannie. Now all of a sudden, we couldn't have been this good with them. I love what sports writers will do to validate getting a pay check.

Wow. What an absolute load. You've got to love the thought of some lame fans in So-Cal watching the Wings Vs Sharks series, just wondering "Gosh, what website am I going to get to flame once this series is over?" Pathetic. This is the same drivel that the board has had to put up with from every team the Wings have played against.